Why I Fell in Love with Running Outdoors

What if I trip over a rock and break both my legs? What if people point and laugh at me for being slow? What is someone kidnaps me? What if I collapse from heat stroke?

What if, what if, what if … it took a while for me to get over my fears and finally take that first step outdoors (on a non-race day). The treadmill was my safety net. It was comfortable and familiar and secure. I went from couch to 5K on the treadmill and thought I fell in love with running.

The thing is, now that I’m running outdoors I really know what it means to love running.

When I’m on the treadmill I listen to music to break up the monotony (“I’ll Make a Man Out You” from the Mulan soundtrack is my jam) but there is no monotony outdoors. There are trees and flowers and hills and people and the big, beautiful sky. All of that sounds so ridiculously utopian, but it’s true.

When I run outdoors I notice things I don’t see when I’m zipping by in my car. Neighbors I had never spoken a word to before now wave at me and I say “hi” in return. There’s this house on my route home that I look forward to running past because the garden is full of beautiful flowers and they smell so amazing.

One of my favorite parts of running outdoors is running through our local park. Every evening the park is full of little league teams playing ball, kids running around on the playground and older people jogging and biking the paths.

It reminds me so strongly of the park I used to go down to when I was a kidto watch my friends play little league baseball. Before I started running through the park, those were memories long forgotten. Now I can’t help but smile and remember those summer nights – the lemonade and the hot dogs and the friendship.

Running outdoors makes me feel alive, it makes me feel nostalgic, it makes me feel connected to the community and mostly it helps me to relieve stress from my day.

Yesterday for example, I had a pretty bad day at work. Not because anything in particular happened, but I was just feeling very tired and a little bit sick. When I got home I laced up to head out for a short run and came home feeling 110% better.

Running on the treadmill might have made me feel just as good, but I doubt it. I wouldn’t have seen energetic kids at the park or cute dogs out for a walk or felt the warm breeze on my face.

This is a little bit of a sappy post, but I really just wanted to put it out there: I love running outdoors.

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9 comments

You hit the nail on the head…running outdoors is so freeing in a way running indoors just can’t compete with. There’s something that makes you feel super accomplished about being an outdoor runner, too!

Yes, that is absolutely true. I feel like a “real” runner now that I head outside. I’m so glad I got over my fears. The first few times I don’t think I enjoyed running outdoors much – it’s harder and it’s hotter. But I kept at it and I’m sooooooooo glad I did! 🙂

Absolutely! I went from “I’ll force myself to do one run outdoors per week” to “I’ll do all my runs outdoors except for fartleks” (the treadmill helps me kick up & maintain speed) to I just can’t run on the treadmill anymore, ever, at all, not gonna happen! 🙂

[…] From April 14 – May 14th I did all of my runs outdoors! Learning to love outdoor running was a big goal of mine for the first part of 2013 and I am so glad I can check that off. Not just because I like checking things off my to-do list but because outdoor running is soooo superior to the treadmill! […]

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Hey, I’m Kristina

I'm 31 years old, a nine time half marathoner and one time marathoner. My big goal is to run a 50-miler someday.